Union says T-Mobile isn’t pulling its weight in Oakland

OAKLAND, Maine — Unions say T-Mobile’s call center in Oakland has cut about 300 jobs in recent months, and is no longer employing enough workers to justify receiving public subsidies.

The Communications Workers of America and the Maine AFL-CIO say they want T-Mobile to make good on its promise of jobs or to return taxpayer money to fund a job training program.

T-Mobile spokesman Hernan Daguerre disputes the claims. He tells the Morning Sentinel that T-Mobile has never laid off employees at the Oakland call center, which now employs more than 520.

Dagurre says that between 2005 and 2010, T-Mobile USA received $3.5 million from the state as incentives for creating jobs. But he says the company made no commitments to create a specific number of jobs in Maine.